✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom, United States · 2013
1h 56m
Director Scott Cooper
Starring Christian Bale, Zoe Saldaña, Woody Harrelson, Sam Shepard
Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
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Steelworker Russell Baze holds tight to his sense of family, duty, and loyalty. Rodney Baze, Russell's brother, returns home after serving in Iraq and, with his debts piling up, becomes entangled with a vicious crime lord. Soon afterward, Rodney disappears mysteriously. Russell puts his life on the line to bring his brother home.
Los Angeles Times by Betsy Sharkey
Bale, Affleck and Harrelson are in their element as men battered by life, delivering exceptional performances that hold nothing back. Bale and Affleck are as nuanced as Harrelson is unhinged. It is among the finest work done by all three.
The Playlist by Charlie Schmidlin
The film is luckily powered by a powerful trio of performances at its core, and a unique, unpredictable structure that constantly reframes the action in a compelling way.
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
Like “The Deer Hunter” — from which it swipes its Keystone State milieu, its haunted veterans, and its self-endangerment metaphor — Out of the Furnace gets under your skin.
Out of the Furnace is no disaster, but it doesn’t achieve what it hopes to achieve, and it has no one to blame but itself.
Subtle performances — especially from Bale and Affleck, both growing meaner in the absence of hope — transcend any structural weaknesses. The bottom drops out early for them, but their endgame is savagely captivating.
Out of the Furnace is much longer on style and belligerence than actual substance.
Slant Magazine by R. Kurt Osenlund
What this movie finally boils down to is a deceptively simple tale of two brothers, and of being one's brother's keeper, and of seeking justice on the crudest of fronts.
Cooper seems to make actors feel safe and willing to expose themselves in ways they ordinarily might not, and time and again he takes scenes to places of unexpected emotional power.
Village Voice by Stephanie Zacharek
Cooper may have gone overboard in delineating the hardships of blue-collar life in Out of the Furnace. But he has a gift for getting actors to put some muscle into their work, and enough finesse to make sure the sweat doesn't show.
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
In the meaty bad guy role, Harrelson entertainingly goes all the way, putting him way out there on the ledge with any of your favorite loonies, psychos and unhinged nutjobs.
Crime runs in the family.
Proof is the Burden
After Alice’s husband ruins her financially and leaves her as a single mother, Alice must support herself and her daughter with sex.